WORLD WATCH

World Watch

July 02, 2006|By Larry Habegger.

PHILIPPINES

Security has been tightened in Manila to thwart possible terrorist attacks, the result of consistent intelligence suggesting the threat continues. Police set up 15 checkpoints around the city and deployed 20,000 officers to combat the threat. The national police went on full nationwide alert June 25-July 2 while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo traveled abroad. The mobilization of all national police personnel is standard procedure when the president is outside the country.

RUSSIA

St. Petersburg has a new service to help tourists make their way safely around the city. "Angels Service" employees provide advice on how to use the city transit system, make emergency phone calls, find safe banking services, learn the best way to a destination and shop. The uniformed personnel work in pairs downtown and at tourist sites. The government established the service with hopes of promoting St. Petersburg as a hospitable European city, perhaps to balance the frequent news of it being a center of hate crimes against non-white foreigners.

SOUTHWEST U.S.

Drought has created hazardous fire conditions throughout the Southwest, and large fires are burning in several areas throughout the region. A fire near the popular Arizona town of Sedona caused the evacuation of hundreds of homes and four resorts, but firefighters were bringing the blaze under control. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the less-traveled side of the site, was cut off for several days because of road closure due to fires. Check with officials at your destination for current conditions.

PORTUGAL

A new tourist police unit is operating in Lisbon through Sept. 30, aiming to provide tourist information and advice about how to stay safe in the city. The mobile unit is stationed at a different tourist site each day, including Rua Augusta, the viewing point of Santa Luzia, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, the Jeronimos Monastery and the Belem Tower. Reports say tourists have been using and appreciating the service.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Increasing crime has been a problem here for quite some time, but two stories in the local press on the same day June 22 suggest a solution may be hard to find. One story reported the robbery of a man near a shopping mall "in broad daylight" in Port-of-Spain, while the other said the government was installing 13,000 new streetlights in Tobago over the next three years as a way to combat crime. The lights will no doubt help, but even "broad daylight" doesn't seem to deter criminals here.

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For the latest on world conditions, check the State Department's automated service at 888-407-4747; fax 202-647-3000; travel.state.gov.